Trailer Park Tuesday: The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.  Unless their last name is Grisham or King, authors will probably never see their trailers on the big screen at the local cineplex.  And that's a shame because a lot of hard work goes into producing these short marriages between book and video.  So, if you like what you see, please spread the word and help these videos go viral.

Today marks the publication date of Nancy Bilyeau's new novel The Chalice, a sequel to last year's historical thriller The Crown, and I'm pleased to bring you her new blood-soaked trailer (almost exactly a year to the day I featured The Crown's trailer).  It's hard to keep your pulse rate down while watching this 90-second video.  It moves quickly through a series of haunting images: an ancient graveyard, a sky full of wheeling ravens, a flash of skull superimposed over King Henry VIII's face, a single drop of blood splashing into a pool of red.  Chilling and thrilling.  On her website, Nancy writes, "Think Day of the Jackal meets The Tudors."  I haven't had the chance to read The Chalice, but the trailer does a good job setting the mood for the story in which former novice Joanna Stafford continues her fight against corruption in Tudor-era England.  This time, she uncovers a plot against King Henry while she's trying to unravel the puzzle of a prophecy about her own life.  Her quest for the truth leads her on a journey into the heart of darkness where, I'm guessing, blood will be spilled.